Biography:

Malcolm Gunn is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and has over 50 years of experience in advising on all aspects of UK tax, although he has a particular interest in capital taxes. For 16 years, he was an editor of the weekly magazine Taxation. In 2004, he left the magazine to concentrate on consultancy and advisory work.

Malcolm Gunn continues to contribute frequently to technical publications on UK tax, including a chapter each year in Tolley's Tax Planning on Relevant Property Trusts. He is the current author of Tolley's Inheritance Tax and joint author with Julie Butler of Stanley's UK Taxation of Farmers & Landowners. He is also general editor of Foster's Inheritance Tax, and a consultant with Butler and Co chartered accountants.

Malcolm Gunn was awarded the Lifetime Achievement award in the LexisNexis 2004 Tax Awards and is a member of the Worshipful Company of Tax Advisers.

Biography:

I'm an international tax and transfer pricing specialist, working with a wide range of clients across all aspects of international corporate taxes.

I joined Smith & Williamson as a graduate, and have experience ranging from fast growth FinTech companies, through to well established, global groups. I'm an active member within the Nexia International network, assisting multinationals with cross-border structuring, transactions, financing and transfer pricing.

Biography:

Kim is a director in BDO’s Real Estate and Construction Group and one of the firm's UK-REIT specialists. She has led a number of groups through the UK-REIT conversion process as well as being an ongoing adviser to a number of UK-REITs.

Kim has over 17 years’ experience in taxation including a secondment to the British Property Federation. Aside from her REIT experience, Kim has other clients in the property sector: investors, developers (including residential developers) and funds. Kim is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

Biography:

Phil is the Senior Tax Director for Molson Coors' European operations. He has responsibility for both direct and indirect taxes across both EU and non-EU states. Prior to this, Phil was responsible for Molson Coors UK tax affairs covering all major taxes and duties.

Phil trained at KPMG LLP, where he worked for 8 years, specialising in tax investigations across both direct and indirect tax.

Biography:

Ian leads the Mazars' Employment Tax practice in the UK.

Experience:

Ian helps employers attract and retain key personnel as well as ensure their governance is in the best shape to manage risks associated with Employment Tax and National Minimum Wage.

He has supported many organisations in implementing salary sacrifice arrangements to increase net pay and make cost savings.

Ian has advised businesses on IR35, expenses, benefits (including P11D and PSA compliance), Construction Industry Scheme and National Minimum Wage governance. This has included getting organisations ready for sale, as well as helping large employers mitigate HMRC risks.

Ian has a keen interest in cost reduction and reward strategy, highlighted through supporting businesses with travel (cars, vans, temporary workplaces etc) and expenses, including NIC reclaim projects and bringing to life new reward strategies to better reflect the business objectives and culture.

Work Highlights:

Ian is a published author on Employment Tax, National Minimum Wage and Termination Payments, as well as contributing regular articles to various tax and other publications.

He was heavily involved in helping organisations get to grips with their Covid response, supporting businesses with the CJRS/Furlough arrangements to help protect jobs and ensure claims made were as accurate as possible.

Biography:

Claire is a partner specialising in incentives. She advises clients on all forms of management and employee incentive arrangements, including option plans and other share-based incentives, cash plans and UK tax-favoured plans. She works with clients from start-ups to listed multinationals in a variety of sectors, in particular technology, energy and infrastructure and life sciences.

During her career, as well as law Claire has worked in executive remuneration consulting and in-house reward which gives her a 360 view of incentives, enabling her to partner with her clients to find the right solutions for their businesses.

Biography:

Rebecca has dedicated her legal career to estate planning and succession law. She is an Accredited Specialist in Wills & Estate Law and holds a Masters in Laws (Wills & Estates).

As a partner at Tetlow Legal in Canberra, Rebecca regularly advises private clients on complex estate planning, including business owners, high net worth clients, blended families, trusts and superannuation.

Rebecca has extensive experience with probate and the administration of estates, as well as estate disputes including family provision claims and contested probate matters.

Rebecca has been actively involved in law reform through the Elder Law & Succession Law Committee of her local Law Society as well as the national Law Council. She has regularly been asked to present to professional bodies and appear in the media on topics of estates and elder abuse.

Biography:

Robert is an expert in UK employment tax matters for employers with UK based employees, including UK employees working overseas, and overseas employees coming to the UK. He has extensive experience of advising clients with regards to PAYE matters, employee benefits and social security as well as employment related payments outside the payroll functions such as termination settlements and payments to consultants and other non-payroll labour.

After graduating in Politics and Law from the University of Southampton, Robert started his tax career at HMRC as an employer compliance officer undertaking enquiries into employers' expenses and benefits systems before moving into a large international practice and then into the Big 4. Here he assisted with tax investigations, flexible benefits planning, employment tax compliance and international social security.

Robert has presented to various audiences and has had a number of articles published in various magazines on employment tax matters.

Robert is a fully qualified member of both the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) and the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CTA).

Biography:

Annette, a Chartered Tax Adviser, is a successful and experienced consultant who advises on specialist tax areas in a wide context to achieve optimal solutions.  Her clients include corporates, partnerships, individuals, Trusts and accountancy firms needing advice on specialist tax issues.  She has advised agricultural businesses, run her own successful accountancy practice in Devon and has been tax director of a progressive firm of London-based Chartered Accountants.  She is involved with the Chartered Institute of Taxation as vice-chair of their OMB technical committee and she is a member of the accountants group 'Heads Together'.  Her specialisms include overseas and cross-border tax issues, corporate work, employment reward and share schemes, capital taxes and venture capital schemes.  She is also a qualified agricultural consultant and advises on the particular tax areas vital to rural businesses and estates.

Biography:

Melissa is the Direct Tax Controller and Group Reporting Manager at pladis, a large biscuit manufacturer with well known brands including McVities. Previously Melissa was a Tax Manager in the property team at BDO where she specialised in capital allowances. She has presented on the subject at ACCA conferences and various seminars.

She also contributes to Tolley's Property Taxation.

Biography:

Biography:

Nicola Vernola is an Associate at Chiomenti law firm. During his professional experience, he has developed expertise in tax law and tax planning, with a particular focus on international taxation and domestic and international tax policy.

He is a member of the Bari Bar (Italy) since 2024.

Biography:

Alan Powell is a specialist excise duties consultant, formerly a Policy official within HMCE’s HQ teams and a Big 4 tax Team.

He is an excise duties advisor to the Chartered Institute of Taxation, honorary advisor to the UK Warehousing Association, and founded the British Distillers Alliance as a conduit for consultation with, and representation to, Government bodies and to assist and advise on technical matters.

He is a Chartered Tax Advisor, a Fellow of the Institute of Indirect Taxation, and sits on the high-level Joint Alcohol and Tobacco Consultative group with HMRC and the Indirect Taxes Committee of the CIOT.

In his 65th year, he is trying to retire.

Biography:

Brian Ogilvie FCCA CTA is a Chartered Certified Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser, based in Brighton and Hove. He worked for a number of small and medium sized general practice firms in the Sussex area for over 15 years before establishing his own practice.

In addition to practice work, Brian is also a freelance tax lecturer for, among others, ACCA, ICAEW, CIOT and leading accounting firm Moore Stephens LLP. He has also presented e-CPD and webinar training courses, and acted as examiner for the CIOT.

Brian demonstrates draws on extensive experience of providing tax advice on various areas affecting the SME sector, using illustrative case studies to outline changes in tax legislation and practice.

Biography:

Hammad Baig (BA (Hons), LLB (Hons), BVC, MIEx) was called to the bar in 2010. He is a tax barrister and advises on all aspects of VAT, Customs and Excise Law, International Trade Law, Embargoes and Trade Sanctions and Commercial Litigation. Hammad is experienced at in-depth analysis of complex provisions in disputes with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

Hammad is a member of Institute of Export and International Trade (IOE&IT) and also the Customs Practitioners Group (CPG), the Revenue Bar Association (RBA) and the VAT Practitioners Group (VPG).

Biography:

Giovanni is an attorney at a top-tier law firm, specializing in tax litigation and consultancy. With extensive experience in both personal and corporate taxation, he has been a key member of the tax department at Andersen Ballão since 2019, where he has continuously expanded his portfolio by assisting multinational enterprises.

Giovanni's expertise encompasses tax compliance for corporations and family offices, with a strong focus on resolving complex tax litigation cases before the Brazilian Tax Authorities. His experience spans a wide range of areas, including income tax assessments, the collection of state and municipal taxes on services and property, as well as international tax planning.

An emerging author in tax law, Giovanni has crafted numerous legal opinions for individuals and corporations around the world, always employing innovative thinking and a problem-solving approach. He also serves as a guest lecturer in tax law at a university in Brazil.

As a partner at Andersen Ballão, Giovanni is dedicated to fostering networking opportunities and supporting the technical growth and development of young professionals in the legal field.

Biography:

The Venture Capital Tax Reliefs (Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and Venture Capital Trusts (VCT)) are a key part of the UK Government’s strategy to help small and growing businesses raise much-needed capital.

Philip Hare & Associates LLP specialises in these tax reliefs, and advises businesses looking to raise money under these schemes, and deals with HMRC on their behalf. We work alongside other intermediaries, such as lawyers, brokers and fund managers.

Biography:

Claire Cairns is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser, and is currently a corporation tax manager at Grant Thornton UK LLP.

She advises entrepreneurial owner-managed businesses and large international groups on a wide range of tax issues.

Claire has a keen interest in sustainability, and supports the tax lead for ESG at Grant Thornton. As part of this role, she became well versed in the Plastic Packaging Tax legislation and is helping clients nationally navigate the new tax.